Las Vegas Casinos Go All In for March Madness Betting
The sports betting capital of the world first rolled out the red carpet for a few college basketball conference tournaments early in March. Most notably, the Pac-12 and the Mountain West once again held their annual college basketball conference tournaments in Las Vegas to simply wet a bettor’s appetite for the main course of March Madness; the NCAA Tournament. While Las Vegas did not host any actual early round games for this year’s Big Dance, it was definitely the place to be last week for the opening two rounds of games. With 16 games on the board on both Thursday and Friday in the opening round followed by another 16 games in the Round of 32 over the weekend, all the top Las Vegas casinos saw a serge of action in their sportsbook.
The Nevada casino business in general booms during the month of March behind the biggest sports betting event of the year. It does not get any bigger than the NFL’s Super Bowl when it comes to real money gambling on one game, but the annual NCAA Tournament tops the betting list when it comes to a three-week event culminating with the men’s college basketball national title game on Monday, April 2.
According to a recent report on PlaySlots4RealMoney.com, most sportsbooks on the Las Vegas Strip were standing room only prior to the first tip of last Thursday’s NCAA Tournament games. By the time that UMBC pulled off the biggest upset in tournament history by beating top-seeded Virginia as a 20-point underdogs, the crowds at most books were at capacity.The combination of the NCAA Tournament with Spring Break and St. Patrick’s Day provides a huge financial boon to Las Vegas casino’s as well as all the Nevada casinos offering betting action on the games. Even online real money casinos receive a lift from this tournament through any number of online sportsbooks off ering betting action for college basketball.
In other Las Vegas news on NBA-BasketballBetting.com this week, it was announced that Golden Entertainment has made a three-year, $140 million commitment to the redevelopment of the Las Vegas casino, Stratosphere. The first 20 percent of the budget for these upgrades and improvements have been slated for 2018. This makeover includes a complete renovation of the hotel’s 1,100 rooms and a complete remodel and upgrade for the casino’s sportsbook. A new steakhouse and noodle bar will be added to the dining options and the famous Top of the World restaurant will also receive a complete makeover.
Speaking of added dining options in Las Vegas, VegasInternationalHotel.com also pointed out that Steak’n’Shake will have a second location inside Hooters to go along with the original location at South Point. Starting in early April, this new location will be open 24 hours a day, every day of the week. The South Point location will still close at 1 a.m. There will be seating for over 200 guests and for anyone interested in some real money gambling while they eat, the bar in this new location will offer video poker.
